The programme is active in more than 1,300 factories across the world, creating lasting, positive change, changing attitudes and behavior through assessments, advisory services, training and research.

Country(ies) where the intervention is taking place

Global.

Lead Organization

International Labour Office (ILO).

Who is involved (internal company actions, partnerships with government, NGOs, other companies, etc.)?

Workers and their employers in 1,300 garment factories in 7 countries.

Objectives

Improving WASH at the workplace for workers by improving company-internal Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and sustainability standards.

Target markets

Apparel/Footwear.

Workplace Setting

Factory.

Scope of intervention

Factory-level intervention to assess compliance with labour standards (including OSH/WASH), and advisory services to improve compliance and worker-manager dialogue on key issues. Influencing work at national and global levels through data gathered and lessons learned.

Better Work’s assessment data shows that WASH outcomes – access to free water, adequate hand washing soap, and access to toilets improves over the course of several years’ engagement with Better Work, in some cases dramatically. Compliance with setting up an OSH committee also improves.

Relevant impact assessment Results:

More workers report more frequent access to water while at work by third year of.

The proportion of workers who say they are able to get a drink of water “every 2 hours” or more frequently more than doubles – from 19.9% of workers at baseline to 48.5% of workers in the third survey.

Profitability finding in Vietnam shows that factories where workers have more satisfaction with workplace facilities – including satisfaction with toilet and water facilities – are more profitable firms. Up to 8% more profitable. Greater profitability found to be driven by higher per worker productivity.

Workers must perceive improvements in changes. Improvements perceived by managers or compliance assessments do not associated as closely with higher productivity.

While this does not establish that installing toilets means higher profitability automatically follows, it shows that investments in such conditions goes hand-in-hand with better performance.